Georgia Magazine - June 2019 - 26

'From working with kids who are so thrilled
to touch a fish to new college graduates
who go on to become competent educators,
my time here has been so gratifying and
rewarding.'

An American alligator at the
UGA Aquarium observes
onlookers.

When
you go
UGA Marine Education
Center and Aquarium,
30 Ocean Science
Circle, Savannah.
(912) 598-2496
gacoast.uga.edu/
uga-aquarium/visit-us

boats, we can journey to barrier islands and
other remote areas."
During the summer, the center offers weeklong marine science camps for children ages
6 to 14. Special programming is also available
for families, including outdoor field trips and
toddler touch tanks. Visitors can learn about
birdwatching or participate in catch-and-release
crabbing. Guided hikes through the salt marshes
and the maritime forest introduce guests to wildlife habitats and
environmental principles.
The UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium hosts
several special events annually, including Super Museum
Sunday in February, World Oceans Day on June 8, National
Estuaries Day on Sept. 28 and Skidaway Marine Science Day on
Oct. 19.
The center also participates in area festivals, such as Savannah's annual Earth Day celebration in April and CoastFest in
Brunswick on Oct. 5.
More than 30 core volunteers assist the center's 18-person
staff with fundraising, grant-writing and behind-the-scenes staff
support.
"Volunteers are so involved on all levels here, and I've got
my fingers into so many projects, from leading children on a
tour of the aquarium to helping collect water samples for the

Georgia Magazine

June 2019

lab to test for plastics," McMullin says. "One
day we may be working with a group of adults
to develop plans for an environmental project,
and on another I'm answering questions for
second-graders about flounders' eyes, horseshoe crabs and loggerhead turtles."
Lindsay says the volunteers are key to
the center's plans to continue expanding
its programs.
"We have been here since the 1970s, and we have a strong
following of people who are committed to our mission, activities
and purpose," Lindsay says. "We have a small army of committed and passionate volunteers who help us do our work. They're
our colleagues, and they're like family. We would be sunk
without them."
McMullin's love of the sea and the outdoors drives her volunteerism at the center, but other factors influence her, too.
"From working with kids who are so thrilled to touch a fish
to new college graduates who go on to become competent educators, my time here has been so gratifying and rewarding," she
says. "I am proud to be able to share my love of our coast with
staff, visitors and students at the UGA Marine Education Center
and Aquarium."
Pamela A. Keene is a freelance travel writer from Flowery
Branch.

UGA MARINE EXTENSION / GEORGIA SEA GRANT

- Ruth McMullin, UGA Marine Extension Service volunteer

http://gacoast.uga.edu/uga-aquarium/visit-us http://gacoast.uga.edu/uga-aquarium/visit-us

Georgia Magazine - June 2019

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